Maxwell Jacob Friedman has been named the #1 pro wrestler in the world. Pro Wrestling Illustrated has released its 36th annual PWI 500 rankings, and the top spot went to MJF.
MJF’s first time topping the popular PWI 500 also marks his 10th time on the list. The three-time AEW World Champion made his PWI 500 debut in 2017 with a ranking of #384. Friedman placed #352 in 2018, #135 in 2019, #22 in 2020, #26 in 2021, #16 in 2022, #6 in 2023, #7 in 2024, and back down to #30 one year ago due to time off.
Cody Rhodes topped the list in 2025, for the second year in a row. The SmackDown Superstar ranked #2 this year.
MJF is featured alone on one of two collectible covers released for the PWI 500 this year, seen below. Newsstands in the United States and Canada will begin carrying the issue on October 13.
PWI began publishing its list of the top 500 male pro wrestlers in 1991. They also release the annual Women’s 250 and Tag Team 100. The rankings are decided by writers from the magazine. The wrestler is ranked based on an evaluation period that ran from August 1, 2025 through July 31, 2026, with the following criteria considered: technical ability and overall wrestling ability, championship wins, feuds, quality of competition, win-loss records, prominence/prestige within their promotion.
The list of top 100 male wrestlers from the 36th annual PWI 500 includes 30 from one of the WWE rosters, and 25 wrestlers from AEW. The top 100 also features eight talents from NJPW, seven from TNA, and 30 more from the indies, NWA, CMLL, MLW, Pro Wrestling NOAH, AJPW, GCW, DDT-Pro, Dragon Gate, as well as talents who work multiple promotions such as NJPW-AEW, NJPW-CMLL, among others.
Below is a look at the top 100 wrestlers from the 36th annual PWI 500:
- MJF
- Cody Rhodes
- CM Punk
- Místico
- Konosuke Takeshita
- Adam Page
- Yota Tsuji
- Trick Williams
- Oba Femi
- Gunther
- Bandido
- Darby Allin
- Cruz Montana
- Callum Newman
- Kenny Omega
- Will Ospreay
- Kazuchika Okada
- Dominik Mysterio
- Jon Moxley
- Seth Rollins
- Kyle Fletcher
- Sami Zayn
- Penta
- Kevin Knight
- Swerve Strickland
- Zack Sabre Jr.
- Drew McIntyre
- Samoa Joe
- Leon Slater
- Killer Kross
- Yoshiki Inamura
- Silas Mason
- Kento Miyahara
- Claudio Castagnoli
- Lee Moriarty
- El Hijo Del Vikingo
- Andrade El Ídolo
- Atticus Cogar
- Ricky Saints
- Nic Nemeth
- Je’Von Evans
- LA Knight
- El Grande Americano
- Frankie Kazarian
- Jey Uso
- Mark Briscoe
- Tony D’Angelo
- Carmelo Hayes
- Hechicero
- Jacob Fatu
- Yoh
- Mance Warner
- Bron Breakker
- Mascara Dorada
- Mustafa Ali
- Michael Oku
- Ricochet
- Rey Fenix
- Shane Haste
- Man Like DeReiss
- Hirooki Goto
- Ilja Dragunov
- Brody King
- Damian Priest
- Tommaso Ciampa
- Jack Perry
- KENTA
- Templario
- Danhausen
- Charles Mason
- Gabe Kidd
- EFFY
- El Desperado
- Mark Davis
- Cedric Alexander
- Joe Hendry
- Laredo Kid
- Madoka Kikuta
- Neon
- Yuki Ueno
- Mike Bailey
- Ethan Page
- Ren Narita
- Soberano Jr.
- Steve Maclin
- Chad Gable
- Bear Bronson
- Blue Panther
- Shota Umino
- El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr.
- Oleg Boltin
- Trey Miguel
- Masa Kitamiya
- Moose
- Jay Joshua
- Krule
- Yuya Uemura
- Ryan Clancy
- Allie Katch
- Myles Borne
